Patterning devices for circular knitting machines

ABSTRACT

A multifeed circular knitting machine having needles and needleactuating jacks. Jacks have operating butts acted upon by raising cams. Besides being movable heightwise by these cams, jacks are radially movable to enable their operating butts to be moved into and out of range of said cams. Patterning butts associated with jacks are selectively pressed in by selecting units- one per feed. Each unit comprises a bracket secured in position, and a selector plate which is attached to bracket and provided with prongs spaced apart in predetermined positions heightwise for action upon and to press in patterning butts in corresponding planes.

United States Patent Robottom 1 Feb. 15,1972

[54] PATTERNING DEVICES FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES [72] Inventor:Philip Amos Robottom, Syston, England [73] Assignee: Stibbe MachineryLimited, Leicester, En-

gland [22] Filed: Oct. 17, 1969 [21] Appl. No; 867,276

{30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 23, 1968 Great Britain..50,307/68 [52] US. Cl. ..66/50 R [51] Int. Cl. ..D04b 15/68 [58] Fieldof Search ..66/50, 50 B, 25, 36 A, 36 B,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,866,945 7/1932 Lombardi..66/42 2,007,573 7/1935 Kurdy et al ...66/50 B 1,678,906 7/ l 928 Howie..66/50 3,004,413 10/1961 Felker ..66/50 B Primary ExaminerWilliamCarter Reynolds A ttorney-Larson and Taylor ABSTRACT A multifeedcircular knitting machine having needles and needle-actuating jacks.Jacks have operating butts acted upon by raising cams. Besides beingmovable heightwise by these cams, jacks are radially movable to enabletheir operating butts to be moved into and out of range of said cams.Patteming butts associated with jacks are selectively pressed in byselecting unitsone per feed. Each unit comprises a bracket secured inposition, and a selector plate which is attached to bracket and providedwith prongs spaced apart in predetermined positions heightwise foraction upon and to press in patterning butts in 7 corresponding planes.

7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB15 1972 3.641.787

SHEET 1 [IF 3 PATTERNING DEVICES FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Thisinvention relates to patterning devices for multifeed circular knittingmachines, and has reference particularly to such devices of the classadapted to initiate selective actuation of stitch forming or otherappropriate elements of the machine requiring to be controlled orinfluenced for producing patterning effects in tubular knitted fabric.

Although there is no limitation in this respect, the elements of themachine to be controlled or influenced by the patteming devices of thisinvention will usually be either independent slidable needles, orassociated jacks or sliders. Thus, when the elements concerned areneedles in a cylinder, the purpose of the said patterning devices is todetermine the manner in which predetermined needles operate at relevantstations at desired times, e.g., as to whether such needles clear andknit, miss or tuck, and so on, according to patterning requirements.

Again, although the invention is primarily applicable to a multifeedcircular knitting machine of the rotary needle cylinder type with arelatively stationary cam box, it would be possible to apply it to arotary cam box type of machine with a stationary cylinder.

The invention, moreover, is applicable to a patterning system of thekind including, in combination, (a) needle-actuating jacks movablymounted in tricks or grooves in a cylinder, said jacks having operatingbutts and, in addition to being selectively movable heightwise andcontrolled or influenced by cams or camming acting on the operatingbutts for producing patterning effects, being also capable of movementradially within their tricks or grooves with respect to the axis of thecylinder so as to initiate the selective actuation by virtue of theoperating butts being caused some to miss and others to be acted upon bythe said cams or camming, (b) a patterning butt associated with each ofthe needle-actuating jacks and (c) patterning devices, one per feed,having formations for action selectively on the patterning buttssuchwise as to press in selected patterning butts and thus effect,directly or indirectly, appropriate radial movements of thecorresponding needleactuating jacks.

Patterning devices of this invention are principally applicable withoutany limitations in this respect, to a particular form of such a systemwherein suitably fulcrummed needle-actuating jacks are disposedimmediately beneath the needles, and presser jacks (fixed as regards anymovement heightwise) are provided for effecting outward radial movementsof the actuating jacks, said presser jacks being furnished with thepatterning butts and arranged in the same tricks or grooves as thecorresponding needles and needle-actuating jacks.

The patterning butts in a patterning system of the kind herein referredto are usually disposed around the needle cylinder in a diagonal(echelon) sequence or in a V-formation.

In all cases, of course, the patterning butts protrude from the needlecylinder prior to being selectively acted upon by a patterning device inadvance of any one feed.

One prior form of patterning device of the class concerned, comprises,in combination, a bracket, a stack of individually movable and springloaded selector slides or levers mounted on the bracket, there being onesuch slide or lever for each of a multiplicity of butt planes, and thesaid slides or levers having operative ends or noses for influencingpatterning butts, and, also supported by the same bracket, acorresponding stack of rocking levers or the like. Such devices, whenapplied to a multifeed circular knitting machine of the rotary needlecylinder type, are fixed relatively to the needle cylinder, in advanceof the feeds and the respective stacks of rocking levers or the like areinterposed between the corresponding stacks of selector slides or leversand intermittently rotatable peg drums or equivalent programming means,the operative ends or noses of the said slides or levers being arrangedfor selective action directly upon the patterning butts.

But in a multifeed circular knitting machine of the rotary cam box type,only one patterning device of the form described in the last precedingparagraph is provided-at a stationary location-and the operative ends ornoses of the slides or levers in this case act successively underelements of subsidiary selector units, one per feed, arranged to rotatetogether with the cam box. Thus, these subsidiary selector unitstransmit the variable selective movements of the slides or levers of thesingle stack to the patterning butts protruding from the stationaryneedle cylinder through the medium of intermediate elements of the saidunits. For instance, each such subsidiary selector unit may comprise astack of elliptical cams provided with star-wheels arranged to be actedupon and tapped round by operative ends or noses of the aforesaid slidesor levers and a corresponding stack of spring loaded pressers for actionselectively upon the patterning butts.

Accordingly, such prior forms of patterning devices of the classreferred to, are capable of producing practically infinite variations oftrue jacquard patterning of a wide range of widths and depths. On theother hand, such devices are complicated in structure in so far as theycomprise many moving and interrelated parts, and their successfuloperation thus tends to impose limitations of the running speed of themachine.

The object of the present invention is to provide, in a multifeedcircular knitting machine, a very simple, relatively inexpensive andefficient form of pattern selector unit having no movable parts.

Accordingly, the aim is to provide in such a machine a simply fitted andyet readily interchangeable patterning device which, although incapableof any variation while the machine is running, is nevertheless adaptedto produce small pattern areas at increased speeds.

A pattern selector unit according to this invention consists of abracket which is secured in position on an appropriate part of themachine and has attached thereto a component provided with rigid teethor prongs spaced apart in predetermined positions heightwise so as to becapable of acting directly upon depressible patterning butts incorresponding butt planes.

The idea is that with the pattern selector unit set in position, inadvance of a feed, the presented teeth or prongs will be disposed indesired butt planes so that as a consequence of relative rotary motionbetween the unit and the cylinder all relevant patterning butts in thoseplanes will be pressed into the cylinder by the teeth or prongs.

There will naturally be in any machine to which these units are appliedprovision, in advance of each selecting point, for returning thepatterning butts to their projected positions, in readiness forreselection.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and readilycarried into practical efiect, a specific constructional example thereofas applied to a multifeed circular knitting machine of the rotary needlecylinder type will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein,

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of so much of the machine as isnecessary to illustrate the application thereto of a pattern selectorunit, a tooth or prong of the unit being shown acting directly upon apatterning butt of a presser jack to select a needle,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the presser jack in itsready for selection" position,

FIG. 3 is a part sectional view of the pattern selector unit taken onthe line III-Ill of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a detail side view of a toothed or pronged selector plateattachable to the bracket of a pattern selector unit,

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate two alternative setouts of the patterning buttson the presser jacks,

FIG. 7 is a plan view of two of the pattern selector units,

FIG. 8 is a developed layout, as seen from the inside of the stationarycam box, of the needle and needle-actuating jack butt cam tracks at twofeeds of the machine, and

FIG. 9 is a view showing the position of a pattern selector unit inrelation to the corresponding needle-actuating jack liftmg cam.

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 together show the relative positions of patternselector units with respect both to the rotary cylinder and to theneedle and needle-actuating jack camming of the machine.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout thedrawings.

In each of FIGS. 1 and 2, the rotary needle cylinder of the machine isindicated by the numeral 10, whereas the stationary cam box within whichit revolves anticlockwise (as viewed in plan) is designated 11. Thecylinder 10 has formed therein tricks or grooves 12 in the upperportions of which are located individually operable latch needles 13.Immediately beneath each such needle, in the same trick or groove 12, isa needleactuating jack 14. Each jack 14 is so fulcrummed at Ma at itsupper end as to enable its lower end to be swung inwardly, i.e., towardsthe axis of the cylinder 10, and outwardly in radial directions.Whenever any of the needle-actuating jacks 14 is so swung outwardly, ina manner presently to be described, an operating butt 14b thereon willbe projected into a jackcamming track JT and raised to a desired heightby means of a lifting cam 15. As shown in FIG. 8, the lifting cam 15 ateach feed has in association therewith a vertically adjustable slidablecam piece 16. If this cam piece is lowered to its dotted, i.e.,inoperative, position, then the action of the main part of the liftingcam 15 upon an operating butt 14b will simply raise the relevantneedle-actuating jack l4, and hence also the corresponding needle 13, totucking position. But if, on the other hand, the cam piece 16 is raisedto its full-line operative position, to complement the main part of thelifting cam 15, then desired jacks l4 and corresponding needles 13 willbe fully raised to clearing height so that the said needles will knit atthe feed by virtue of their actuating butts 13a being acted upon andlowered by the relevant stitch cam 17. The jack-camming track JT in thelower portion of the can box is defined by the lifting cams 15, theirassociated slidable cam pieces 16 and guard cams 18, on the one hand,and by jack-lowering cams 19 and adjoining cam portions 20, on the otherhand.

The jack-camming track .lT, combined with the needle-actuating jackselecting means presently to be described, accordingly permits ofindividual selection of all of the needles 13 in the machine wheneverthis is required.

But if, at other times, it is desired to operate all the needles in thesame manner at any one feed, this manner being either the same at everyfeed, or varying as between one feed and another, according to knittingrequirements, then use of the needle-actuating jacks l4 and the meansfor selectively operating the same, may be temporarily suspended, andthe raising movements of the needles effected solely by adjustableclearing cams 21 incorporated in a needle butt track NT in the upperportion of the cam box 11. As will be appreciated from a considerationof FIG. 8, whenever the clearing cam 21 at any feed is in its fullyraised position (as shown in full lines) it acts on the needle-actuatingbutts 13a to raise the needles at that feed to clearing height so thatthe needles knit. When, however, the cam 21 is turned down into ahorizontal inoperative position the needles miss, whereas when the saidcam is raised to an intermediate position the needles will be raised totucking height.

The needle butt track NT is, therefore, defined by the clearing cams 21and guard cams 23, on the one hand, and by the stitch cams 17 andadjoining guard cams 22, on the other hand.

The hereinbefore mentioned means for selectively operating theneedle-actuating jacks 14 include fulcrummed presser jacks 24 which arefixed as regards any movement heightwise. There is one presser jack 24below each needle-actuating jack 14, the two being arranged in the sametrick or groove 12 along with the corresponding needle 13 which isdisposed above them both. Each presser jack 24 is pivoted at 25, and hasan upwardly directed and comparatively short limb 24a disposed foraction upon a depending tail 14c of the corresponding needle-actuatingjack 14, and a downwardly directed longer limb 24b furnished, in anappropriate plane,

with a single-patteming butt 244:. The arrangement is such that wheneverthe longer limb of a presser jack 24 is pressed back into its trick orgroove 12, by virtue of inward pressure upon its single patterning butt240, the depending tail of the corresponding needle-actuating jack 14will be swung outwardly: as a consequence the operating butt 14b on suchneedle-actuating jack will be projected into the jack camming track JT.In this way, the selected needle-actuating jack and hence also theassociated needle 13 are raised by the jack camming. Conversely, andafter this selective action at a feed has taken place, a cam 26 inadvance of the jack selecting point at the next feed acts on the frontedge of the tail of the needle-actuating jack and pushes the latterinwardly to withdraw its operating butt 14b from the jack camming. Theresult of this is also to press the upper limb 24a of the correspondingpresser jack 24 inwards thereby returning the lower limb 24b thereofinto its original position in readiness for reselection all as clearlyshown in FIG. 2.

In the illustrated example, the patterning butts 24c are set out aroundthe cylinder 10 either in echelon formation (see FIG. 5) or in aV-formation (FIG. 6). In an echelon sequence, the stem of each presserjack 24 is furnished with only one patterning butt, these butts beingrelatively offset in a multiplicity of spaced planes one above anotherto fonn inclined parallel lines L of butts 24c such that successivebutts, i.e., on successive jacks, are located in different planes toincrease the space between the butts in any one plane. An echelonsequence gives a nonsymmetrical patterning width of a number of walescorresponding to the number of potential butt positions in a fullcomplement along the length of each relevant jack minus one.

A V-formation, on the other hand, produces a symmetrical or mirrorrepeat pattern of a width twice that of the nonsymmetrical patterning.

In accordance with the characteristic feature of the present invention,there is provided at each feed, in advance of the relevant lifting cam15, a pattern selector unit SU having no moving parts. Each such unitconsists of a bracket 27 which is secured in position by a screw 28 on afixed bed or baseplate 29 and has attached thereto a flat orsubstantially flat metal, e.g., steel, selector plate 30 formed at itsleading edge with rigid teeth or prongs such as 30a suitably spacedapart in predetermined positions heightwise so as to be capable ofacting directly upon depressible patterning butts 24c in correspondingbutt planes.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 3, the said selector plate is removablyattached to the back of a recess machined in a side of an uprightportion 27a of the bracket 27.

The bracket 27 is so formed as to enable it to be secured in positionwith the selector plate 30 in a vertical plane obliquely inclined (asviewed in plan in FIG. 7), with respect to the circumferential surfaceof the needle cylinder 10 and with the leading ends of the teeth orprongs 30a set close to but clear of this surface.

Thus, with a pattern selector unit SU set in position in advance of afeed, the teeth or prongs 300 will be disposed in desired butt planes sothat as a consequence of rotation of the cylinder 10 past the saidstationary selector unit all relevant butts 24c in those planes will bepressed into the cylinder by the teeth or prongs with a camming action.

Advantageously, each selector plate 30 may, initially and as shown inFIG. 4, be formed with a full complement of uniformly spaced frangibleteeth or prongs 30a corresponding in number to the total number ofsuperimposed butt planes concerned and, before the plate is attached toits bracket 27, predetermined ones of the teeth or prongs are brokenoff, e.g., by a punching or similar operation, according to patterningrequirements.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the selector plate 30 is attachedto the bracket 27 by means of two suitably spaced screws 31. Thescrew-threaded stems of these screws are passed through clearance holes32 in the plate and screwed into tapped holes in the upright portion 27aof the bracket, the

plate being secured by clamping engagement of the heads of the screwswith the outer face of the plate. To facilitate ready removal of aselector plate 30 from a bracket 27, and its easy replacement by anotherplate having a different setout of teeth or prongs 300, the clearanceholes 32 are constituted by the small ends of keyhole slots designatedgenerally by the numeral 33. In this way a plate 30 can be removed andsubstituted by a fresh one without actual removal of the screws 31.

in accordance with a feature of the invention, the side of the bracket27 against which a selector plate 30 is applied is provided with a fixedlocating pin 34 which extends laterally therefrom for accommodationwithin a horizontal slot 35 formed in the said plate. The idea is that aselector plate can be very accurately set with respect to the needlecylinder 10, that is to say with the leading ends of the teeth or prongs30a set close to but clear of the surface of the cylinder (see FIG. 7),simply by pressing the plate inwardly until the rear end of the slot 35comes into contact with the fixed locating pin 34, this setting actionbeing effected immediately prior to the slackened screws 31 beingtightened to clamp the plate to the bracket.

The teeth or prongs 30a are, of course, horizontally disposed and areeach of a depth corresponding approximately to the heightwise dimensionof the patterning butts 24c in the relevant butt plate. The upper andlower edges of each tooth or prong are preferably straight and paralleland, if desired, the leading edge of the tooth or prong may be bevelledor chamfered suchwise as to enable it to act with a smooth cammingaction on a patterning butt.

The rear edge of each selector plate 30 is, in the particular exampleillustrated formed with a lug 30b which can be taken between the thumband fingers to facilitate handling of the plate.

The lower end of each bracket 27 is formed with a foot or base portion27b which is flat on its underside to rest upon the surface of the fixedbed or baseplate 29 and has formed therein a counterbored hole 27c forreception of the securing screw 28. The leading end of this foot or baseportion 27b is so cut back or recessed at its opposite sides as toprovide a projection 27d of tenon form for insertion into acorrespondingly dimensioned slot 29a cut into an annular step or rib 29bformed on the fixed bed or baseplate 29. In this way each of the patternselector units SU can be accurately located with its selector plate 30extending obliquely at the required angle with respect to the needlecylinder 10.

In one specific example, each selector plate 30 is initially formedintegrally with a full complement of 17 teeth so that a correspondingdiagonal sequence of patterning butts gives a nonsymmetrical patterningwidth of 16 wales whereas a V-formation of patterning butts gives amirror repeat patterning width of 32 wales.

Among other possible alternative systems to which the invention may beapplied may be mentioned one in which the elements to be controlled orinfluenced are again in the form of needle-actuating jacks placedbeneath needles, but in which these jacks are provided with downwardlyextending spring extensions which, whenever permitted to do so, moveoutwardly under the spring influence but are capable of being pressedback by the pattern selector units into the relevant tricks or grooveseither through the medium of corresponding presser jacks furnished withthe patterning butts, or by action of the teeth or prongs on theselector plates directly upon patterning butts provided on theneedle-actuating jacks themselves. Thus, in this alternative case,whenever the springy extension of a needle-actuating jack movesoutwardly, a lower butt thereon engages with a jack-raising cam wherebythe jack and hence also the corresponding needle is raised. On the otherhand, a jack extension selectively pressed inwards to miss the camremains down.

Moreover, the invention is also applicable to a system wherein theneedle-actuating jacks are themselves furnished with the patterningbutts but, instead of being moved outjacks in addition to beingselectively movable heightwise by said cams being also capable ofmovement radially within their tricks with respect to the axis of thecylinder so as to initiate the selective actuation by virtue of theoperating butts being caused some to miss and others to be acted upon bysaid cams; a single-patteming butt provided on a presser jack associatedwith each of the needle-actuating jacks, said patterning butts beingdisposed around the needle cylinder in a prearranged series ofsequences, and pattern selecting units, one per feed, having formationsfor action selectively on the patterning butts suchwise as to press inselected patterning butts and thus effect appropriate radial movementsof the corresponding needle-actuating jacks; the improvement whereineach pattern selector unit comprises a flat selector plate attached toan appropriate part of the machine, the leading edge of said selectorplate having formed thereon a plurality of superimposed straight andrigid prongs of equal length spaced apart in predetermined positionsheightwise so as to be capable of acting directly upon depressiblepatterning butts in corresponding butt planes for the purpose ofpressing in selected ones of these patterning butts and each selectorplate is disposed in a vertical plane which is oblique, as viewed inplan, with respect to radial planes of the needle cylinder and with theleading ends of the prongs set close to but clear of the circumferentialsurface of the needle cylinder so that each of the prongs provides a camsurface for pressing in butts at the relevant height.

2. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 1, whereineach pattern selector unit includes a bracket secured in position on anappropriate part of the machine, said selector plate being attached tosaid bracket, wherein a side of an upright portion of each bracket hasformed therein a recess, and the corresponding selector plate isaccommodated in said recess and removably attached to the back thereof.

3. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 1, whereineach selector plate is initially formed with a full complement ofuniformly spaced frangible prongs corresponding in number to the totalnumber of superimposed butt planes so that, before the plate is attachedto the machine, predetermined ones of these prongs can be broken off,according to patterning requirements.

4. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 1, whereineach pattern selector unit includes a bracket secured in position on anappropriate part of the machine, said selector plate being attached tosaid bracket, by means of spaced screws, the screw-threaded stems ofwhich are passed through clearance holes in the plate and are screwedinto tapped holes in the bracket, the plate being secured by clampingengagement of the heads of the screws with the outer face of the plateand the said clearance holes constituting the small ends of the keyholeslots whereby the plate can be removed and substituted by a fresh onewithout removal of the screws.

5. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 1, whereineach pattern selector unit includes a bracket secured in position on anappropriate part of the machine, said selector plate being attached tosaid bracket, wherein the side of the bracket against which a selectorplate is applied is pro vided with a fixed locating pin which extendslaterally therefrom into a horizontal slot formed in the plate whereby,with the latter pressed inwardly to the extent that the rear end of theslot is in contact with the pin, the plate is accurately set withrespect to the needle cylinder.

6. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 1, whereinthe rear edge of each selector plate is formed with a lug adapted to betaken between the thumb and fingers to facilitate handling of the plate.

being so formed as to provide a projection of tenon form which isinserted into a correspondingly dimensioned slot cut in an annular ribformed on the bed plate whereby the selector unit is located with itsselector plate extending obliquely at an appropriate angle with respectto the needle cylinder.

1. In a multifeed circular knitting machine comprising, in combination,a needle cylinder having formed therein needlereceiving tricks; needlesin said tricks; needle-actuating jacks movably mounted in said tricks,beneath corresponding needles and having operating butts; cams foraction upon said butts for producing patterning effects, theneedle-actuating jacks in addition to being selectively movableheightwise by said cams being also capable of movement radially withintheir tricks with respect to the axis of the cylinder so as to initiatethe selective actuation by virtue of the operating butts being causedsome to miss and others to be acted upon by said cams; asinglepatterning butt provided on a presser jack associated with each ofthe needle-actuating jacks, said patterning butts being disposed aroundthe needle cylinder in a prearranged series of sequences, and patternselecting units, one per feed, having formations for action selectivelyon the patterning butts suchwise as to press in selected patterningbutts and thus effect appropriate radial movements of the correspondingneedleactuating jacks; the improvement wherein each pattern selectorunit comprises a flat selector plate attached to an appropriate part ofthe machine, the leading edge of said selector plate having formedthereon a plurality of superimposed straight and rigid prongs of equallength spaced apart in predetermined positions heightwise so as to becapable of acting directly upon depressible patterning butts incorresponding butt planes for the purpose oF pressing in selected onesof these patterning butts and each selector plate is disposed in avertical plane which is oblique, as viewed in plan, with respect toradial planes of the needle cylinder and with the leading ends of theprongs set close to but clear of the circumferential surface of theneedle cylinder so that each of the prongs provides a cam surface forpressing in butts at the relevant height.
 2. A multifeed circularknitting machine according to claim 1, wherein each pattern selectorunit includes a bracket secured in position on an appropriate part ofthe machine, said selector plate being attached to said bracket, whereina side of an upright portion of each bracket has formed therein arecess, and the corresponding selector plate is accommodated in saidrecess and removably attached to the back thereof.
 3. A multifeedcircular knitting machine according to claim 1, wherein each selectorplate is initially formed with a full complement of uniformly spacedfrangible prongs corresponding in number to the total number ofsuperimposed butt planes so that, before the plate is attached to themachine, predetermined ones of these prongs can be broken off, accordingto patterning requirements.
 4. A multifeed circular knitting machineaccording to claim 1, wherein each pattern selector unit includes abracket secured in position on an appropriate part of the machine, saidselector plate being attached to said bracket, by means of spacedscrews, the screw-threaded stems of which are passed through clearanceholes in the plate and are screwed into tapped holes in the bracket, theplate being secured by clamping engagement of the heads of the screwswith the outer face of the plate and the said clearance holesconstituting the small ends of the keyhole slots whereby the plate canbe removed and substituted by a fresh one without removal of the screws.5. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 1, whereineach pattern selector unit includes a bracket secured in position on anappropriate part of the machine, said selector plate being attached tosaid bracket, wherein the side of the bracket against which a selectorplate is applied is provided with a fixed locating pin which extendslaterally therefrom into a horizontal slot formed in the plate whereby,with the latter pressed inwardly to the extent that the rear end of theslot is in contact with the pin, the plate is accurately set withrespect to the needle cylinder.
 6. A multifeed circular knitting machineaccording to claim 1, wherein the rear edge of each selector plate isformed with a lug adapted to be taken between the thumb and fingers tofacilitate handling of the plate.
 7. A multifeed circular knittingmachine according to claim 1, wherein each pattern selector unitincludes a bracket secured in position on an appropriate part of themachine, said selector plate being attached to said bracket, wherein thelower end of the bracket is formed with a foot portion which rests upona bed plate, the leading end of the foot portion being so formed as toprovide a projection of tenon form which is inserted into acorrespondingly dimensioned slot cut in an annular rib formed on the bedplate whereby the selector unit is located with its selector plateextending obliquely at an appropriate angle with respect to the needlecylinder.